DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Partly because the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway was decided on fuel mileage and not horsepower, four surprising names can be found at the top of the finishing order.

First-time winner Greg Biffle, the struggling Jeff Burton and Ricky Rudd, and Terry Labonte, who has actually been a surprise all season long.

And these were just the headliners.

Jeremy Mayfield, Dale Jarrett, Jimmy Spencer, Todd Bodine and Kenny Wallace all finished among the top 15. And Buckshot Jones -- the former Petty Enterprises driver who lost his ride last year and found a seat for just this one race -- finished a very respectable 19th.

"Our car really wasn't all that fast," Labonte said. "So we tried to do it on pit strategy a little bit, just getting two tires, stuff like that. We were getting good enough mileage that we tried and played the mileage game and topped off on that one caution flag (around lap 78) so we could stretch it and just make one stop (the rest of the race), and some of the guys had to make two."

That was the strategy that helped Biffle win, Burton finish second and Rudd finish third, too.

	Wallace is currently 29th in points.

"Sometimes you've got to work with your head and not with your foot," Burton said.

The rest of the surprising bunch were among the majority that didn't pit on lap 78 and had to make two stops in order to finish the race. Still, with most teams in that boat, these guys used strong runs to come away with solid finishes.

For Mayfield, the key may have been as simple as qualifying well. Starting 10th offered him terrific track position that he didn't give up for most of the race. The finish was his second top-10 at Daytona this year and his fourth straight top-15.

"We were off a little bit at the beginning tonight, but the guys kept working on the car and we kept moving toward the front," said Mayfield, who felt a little guilty about leaving teammate Bill Elliott to join another drafting line at the end of the race. "Me and Bill were together out there a lot tonight. I hate it at the end. (Dale Jarrett) got a run on me, and I had to go (with him). We worked well together tonight, but it didn't work out at the end."

With the drafting help from Mayfield, Jarrett ended up finishing 10th -- a refreshing result in what has been a miserable season. Jarrett was 29th in the points race coming into Saturday night's race and resigned to crawling his way through the season with chassis he considers not built up to par. Jarrett said this last run has his team feeling a little more upbeat, though.

"It was a pretty good day for us, though," he said. "They did a good job in the pits. We did the right strategy. Unfortunately, we just didn't have the fuel mileage to go like those other guys."

Spencer came to Daytona off of finishes of 36th, 29th, 39th and 29th in the four previous events. Mired at 30th in the points race, he sorely needed a run like Saturday night's. After failing to qualify on speed and taking a provisional to start 40th, Spencer finished 12th.

"That was a pretty good finish considering we had to stop for fuel there at the end," Spencer said. "I wish we could have stretched it, but we wouldn't have made it and it's better finishing 12th than 30th or something like that. It was a strange race, but we were up there running up front and that felt pretty good. That's the best finish we've had since Charlotte, so it's a good way to start the 20-race stretch."

	"	Sometimes you've got to work with your head and not with your foot. "
		— Jeff Burton

Bodine and Wallace, a couple of competitive Busch drivers who have had their share of trouble in Winston Cup, also left happy. Bodine finished 13th and Wallace 15th.

"That was a strong car," Wallace said. "We were up there for a while. We were capable of a top 10 tonight."

And then there's Buckshot Jones, who struggled with Petty equipment and was let go -- only to put a look of shock on everyone's face Thursday night when he solidly qualified for Saturday's race. Jones stayed out of trouble, ran among the top 10 for while and came home in the top 20.

"That was great," he said. "The car was great and (the crew) did a great job. I'm just so glad to have had this opportunity. I feel like we showed something tonight."

Rupen Fofaria covers NASCAR for The Raleigh News & Observer and is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at rfofaria@espnspecial.com.